Despite
police assurances to the contrary, the women’s prayer group that holds a
monthly service at the Western Wall was once again on Wednesday prevented from
entering the women’s section and relegated to a distant section of the plaza.

When it comes to matters of religion and the
State of Israel, Jews in America are not bothered by the denial of the rights
of another, but the denial of their OWN rights in Israel. Not only Women of the
Wall, but also the Chief Rabbinate is a major focus for many Jews in the U.S.,
including the Orthodox and ardent Zionists who have the painful feeling that
Israel underestimates them and their rabbis.Special edition on Women of the Wall coming soon

Miriam Friedman Zussman, a modern-Orthodox
friend of Philipp’s, says: “I never considered myself a feminist. I didn’t
think I had to be. Then suddenly, you start to say, ‘You want me to wear what? You want me to say what? You want my daughter to wear what?’... It’s the boiled frog
theory."

And so, for the first time, women like Nili
Philipp have started to cross the secular-religious divide.